By Taniya Harwell |Staff Writer|
Nicole Sweeney and Marina Ibrahim are the recipients of the $500 Dianna J. Pelletier Resiliency Scholarship for Winter 2015.
The scholarship is meant to provide a financial incentive to undergraduate students who have previously been on academic probation.
Students are put on academic probation and subject to academic disqualification when they fall below a determined grade-point-average (GPA) based on their academic standing.
The scholarship is awarded every quarter to two students that have achieved a minimum 3.2 GPA for a specific quarter after starting their probation.
Students submit an essay describing their academic resiliency and two winners are chosen.
“There were times when it seemed impossible to succeed but with the right dedication and persistence anything is possible,” stated Ibrahim in her essay.
Funds for the scholarship are raised mainly by donation from alumni and students looking to help others.
“My special needs student taught me to overcome adversity,” stated Sweeney in her resiliency essay “(She is) extremely proud and validated as a student,” added Sweeney in a later interview.
The scholarship received its name from Dianna J. Pelletier after she lost her long battle with cancer. Pelletier was an academic adviser, who passed away in October of 2012 according to ugs.csusb.edu.
For over 40 years Pelletier encouraged CSUSB students and impacted her colleagues.
Star Kafovalu-Wildes, the newest academic adviser overseeing the scholarship said, “her passion for her students was very inspiring.”
Kafovalu-Wildes has been managing the scholarship fund since this past October and already regards this position as “a blessing.”
Kafovalu-Wildes hopes “for students to have confidence,” and said, “it’s amazing to see student’s eyes light up when you tell them there’s help out there for them.”
The many scholarship recipients have been positively affected by the scholarship.
“I felt something that day that has literally changed my life,” stated Ryan Adams, a recipient of the Fall 2012 scholarship.
“Despite everything that happened, I still managed to get all A’s and clear myself out of academic probation,” stated Julia Kay Oberndorf, a recipient from Winter 2013.
The academic advising page on the school website features a guideline explaining how students get on academic probation.
For example, a student of freshman standing having earned 45 quarter units or fewer can have a GPA of no lower than 1.50. To check the conditions for your academic standing visit ugs.csusb.edu/advising/probation.
To learn more about the scholarship fund, go to ugs.csusb.edu or visit CSUSB Academic Advising office in UH 380.
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